


LEGENDS

by kiwisneakers



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adoption, Blood and Violence, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/F, F/M, Foster Care, Gen, Mild Language, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Roller Derby, Teen Titans as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29566818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwisneakers/pseuds/kiwisneakers
Summary: Harmony Holden pretended to be your average senior in high school.But her unfeeling foster mother, bad influence friends, and three jobs made that pretty difficult.All she wanted to do was get into a decent college with a good criminology program so she could finally hunt down who killed her parents...But one night, at her job at the local video game store, her friend Victor stopped in for their usual chat as Harmony cleaned a rare game that got traded in earlier in the day.And things went colossally wrong.In the aftermath... she finds herself mysteriously adopted by Batman himself, and somehow recruited into the Teen Titans.Does she accept, to use their resources in finding her lost sister and her parents' killers?Or does she refuse, because her friends back home are acting awfully... villainous?[slow updates]
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley/Selina Kyle, Victor Stone/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Playlist

Ⓣ

**Fast In My Car** by Paramore

_Been through the ringer a couple times_   
_I came out callous and cruel;_   
_Hollowed out and filled up with hate_   
_All we want is for you to give us a break_

**Immortals** by Fall Out Boy

_I'm still comparing your past_   
_to my future_   
_It might be your wound,_   
_but they're my sutures_

**Batshit** by Lights feat MYTH

_I'd still rather scream most days_   
_I'm thinkin' too much_   
_I'm sorry too often_   
_Maybe I should stop talkin'_

**Work** by Apashe and Vo Williams

_Through rain, sleet, hail, or snowflakes_   
_Not a day off, when the payoff_   
_was a drop in the lake_   
_I done been lost, took a big cost,_   
_never been off my game_

**Get Lucky** by Halestorm

_We're up all night 'til the sun_   
_We're up all night for good fun_   
_We're up all night to get lucky_

**Speeding** by Lights

_Don't wait up, I'm already gone_   
_Can't stay still_   
_The world in the rearview mirror_   
_doesn't matter_   
_I won't be coming back here after_

**Grow Up** by Paramore

_I said, I'm done with all of my_   
_fake friends,_   
_Self-righteous pawns in a_   
_losing game,_   
_So I'll cry just a little then I'll dry my eyes_   
_Cause I'm not a little girl no more_

**Strangers Again** by Against the Current

_I wanted out, but you held me down_   
_And fed me the lies I told you myself_

**Human** by Gabrielle Aplin

_Come closer,_   
_show the marks upon your skin_   
_Show me that you're human_

**In Our Bones** by Against the Current

_In our darkest hours_   
_We are not invincible_   
_But we're both stronger_   
_than we know_

**Blinding Lights** by The Weeknd

_I've been on my own for long enough_   
_Maybe you can show me how to love_

**Love Me** by Felix Cartal feat Lights

_I don't need another issue_   
_Don't wanna miss you_   
_Love me or just let me go_

**Not Done Yet** by I Fight Dragons

_So why do you think everything needs to be_   
_cut and dried and analyzed_   
_When chaos is the rule_   
_And chaos can be beautiful_

**Play Destroy** by Poppy feat Grimes

_Drop a match in the gas tank_   
_Blow up your neighbor's pool_   
_Oh boy_   
_I love to play destroy_

**Nightlight** by ILLENIUM feat Annika Wells

_Know that I can find my way_   
_Even on the days when it's hardest_   
_But I still need you_   
_To ease my load_   
_Hold me when the lightning strikes_

**Here With Me** by Marshmello feat CHVRCHES

_Can I tell you something,_   
_just between you and me?_   
_When I hear your voice,_   
_I know I'm finally free_   
_When you lift me up,_   
_I know that I'll never fall_   
_I can speak to you by saying nothing at all_

**Fight Club** by Lights

_Throw my hands up, cause I had enough_   
_It's coming to a head, like it always does_   
_Come and show me what you're made of_

**I Fall Apart** by Post Malone

_She fooled me twice and it's all my fault_   
_She cut too deep, now she left me scarred_

**Comeback** by Jonas Brothers

_Wherever you are right now,_   
_know somehow I'll be on the way_   
_like a bat out of hell_   
_Come back to me baby,_   
_I'll come back to you_

**Save World Get Girl** by I Fight Dragons

_Surrounded, in the thick of it,_   
_Nowhere to run away, not today_   
_Outnumbered,_ _that's the trick of it_   
_No more to lose, and so here we go now_

**Legends Never Die** by Against the Current

_When the world is calling out your name_   
_Begging you to fight_   
_Pick yourself up once more 'cause_   
_Legends never die_

**Legend** by Apashe, SLUMBERJACK, and Wasiu

_Fuck that, tell the reaper I ain't ready_   
_I'ma fight him, he ain't scary_

**Running With the Wild Things** by Against the Current

_You can't keep us down forever_   
_We got too big for the cage_   
_you locked us up in_

**Phoenix** by Cailin Russo and Chrissy Costanza

_So are you gonna die today_   
_or make it out alive?_   
_You gotta conquer the monster_   
_in your head and then_   
_you'll fly_

**Graffiti** by CHVRCHES

_I've been waiting_   
_my whole life to grow old_   
_And now we never will_

**Halcyon** by The Paper Kites

_Breathe, it's over now_   
_We can love, we can love,_   
_And the birds will sing our song_   
_in halcyon_

Ⓣ


	2. Ch.1 - Two Player Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking... Teen Titans AND Young Justice???   
> I'm gonna try to make it happen. lol   
> Stick with me, I think I can make this work.

Ⓣ

Dusting. Mo was getting paid minimum wage to dust.

At least, today she was.

She grumbled and grit her teeth, angrily shoving the detail duster into the nook of a game case, fishing out the grime that had built up in the Nintendo classic, Duck Hunt, over however many years the creepy guy had kept it in his basement before caving and selling it for a fortune. She'd already finished cleaning the plastic gun that came with the game, drying in the safe in the back. Mr. Nomura, the soft Japanese man that owned Level Up Games (and Mo's boss) was napping in his office while she dusted the merch. Not a single customer all night besides Duck Hunt Guy.

And they still had three hours until closing.

Mr. Nomura grunted in his desk chair, snore choked off, and muttered something about _peanut butter_ (of all things) before smacking his lips and returning to sleep. Mo rolled her eyes and pulled out her calc textbook, skimming the homework and jotting down answers on the back of crumpled receipt paper while she continued to dust Duck Hunt. If she was going to die of boredom, she may as well be prepared for her calc test beforehand.

You know, in case her teacher managed to send her test to the afterlife.

Another twenty (Thirty? Forty?) minutes passed in near silence, Top 40 creeping out from a decades-old boom box under the front counter, layered between the crinkly flips of Mo's textbook pages, the _scritch-scratch_ of Mo's notes on receipt paper, and the sweeps of the detail duster across the game case and the game itself. The bells over the front door jingled, and Mo thanked every god and goddess she could think of for the break in the monotony. And lucky for her, her favorite customer waltzed in.

"Hey man!" She grinned, stowing her book on the back counter, Duck Hunt crammed inside to protect it. "Haven't seen you in a while, Victor... how have you been?"

His glaring white smile shone even from under his dark grey hoodie, chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. "I'm good! Been busy," he said, looking at the PlayStation games while they talked. "How's senior year?" Victor's limited edition Nikes were shiny bright in the fluorescent lighting, and Mo tamped her jealousy down into a little tiny speck, pretending to chuck it into the deepest, darkest corner of her brain.

Mo sighed and ran a hand through her gritty pink hair, internally chastising herself for not showering that morning and relying on dry shampoo, before putting her black baseball hat back on, tilting the brim up. "It's pretty much how I expected. Teachers are talking about college like it's the only option after high school, and everyone wants me to join forty clubs," she explained, leaning over the counter and picking at the fraying sleeves of her secondhand hoodie, "I don't know how many more times I can say that I'm busy, you know?" She _was_ busy. Three part time jobs and full time high school kept her plenty occupied. Plus, dodging her foster mom wasn't an easy task, either.

"I get it, man," he said, nodding as he glanced in her direction. When Mo tried to meet his eyes, she swore she saw red under his hood, but he looked away too fast for her to confirm. 

_Blood?_

"Played anything good lately?" He tried to steer the conversation away from himself. Away from his memories. Anything to keep their relationship strictly friendly, just two people chatting about video games... even though every time he walked into Level Up he wanted to stay until close. To talk to her.

To find out more.

Hopping up to sit on the back counter, Mo stretched her arms high above her head. "Nah," she yawned, "Just been messing around on my 3DS like usual. Animal Crossing, Detective Pikachu, whatever." She watched him pick up and read the back of Detroit: Become Human, and added, "My friend Lina did let me try the new Mario Kart when I went to her house the other day. That was pretty fun."

"You like it?" He'd kicked BB's butt plenty of times at Mario Kart on their Switch. "What character did you pick?" The game in his hand drifted down, his attention drawn back to Mo like usual.

"Uh, Pink Gold Peach, _obviously_ ," she grinned, flipping her hair.

He laughed and shook his head. "I should've known."

Mo was about to ask Victor which character he usually played as when she heard something. A faint screeching, getting louder. And approaching _fast_. Without thinking, Mo launched herself over the counter and grabbed Victor's arm. "We have to go. Now," she gasped, lugging him toward the back room.

He stared at her, intrigued that she was actually capable of pulling him _anywhere_ , when he noticed the panic in her face, the fear in her eyes. Before he could ask what was going on, her eyes widened, staring at the front windows. She screamed, "DUCK!"

And he listened. No hesitation.

Vaulting over him, Mo threw her arms around his bulky form and protected as much of him as she could with her thin frame before calling up her power. She felt the cool seep into her bones, liquid metal covering her skin just in time to protect the both of them from the incoming rocket.

The store exploded, games and rubble flying.

Mo waited. High pitched ringing held steady in her ears, and her vision blurred as she straightened up, taking in the mess. Victor seemed alright, thankfully, but little else in Level Up was untouched.

_Mr. Nomura._

Mo raced to the back room, wrenching the door away from his office without thinking, causing the unstable wall to collapse.

"Hey!" Victor grabbed her around the waist, yanking her away at the last second, holding Mo close to his chest. "Are you okay?" he shouted, barely audible over the whine in Mo's ears. His hood had fallen away in the chaos, and Mo couldn't stop staring like an idiot.

Glass and silver plating covered half of his dark-skinned face, blue in the light. A red, fiber-optic eye fixed on her with the same intensity as his blue one.

She knew him. _Cyborg_. From the Teen Titans.

Her primary power alerted her to someone approaching - crunching footsteps, heavy breathing, the swishing of fabric. She could smell, and nearly taste, their excessive body spray before she could see them round the corner. Mo tensed and tried to get a fix on the invader, moving much too slowly to be a helpful bystander or first responder. "Anybody alive in there?" Their voice was crackly, like they hadn't quite finished going through puberty yet.

A shadow appeared in the dust, and Mo stretched her arms out wide, protecting Victor. "Stay behind me," she whispered, "I can handle this."

"No way," he grumbled, throwing an arm out in front of Mo and stepping up to block her. " _I've_ got this." He reached one hand back and pulled his hoodie off over his head, discarding it in the rubble. Mo opened her mouth to argue, and he shot her a look. "Go check on Mr. Nomura. I'll hold this guy off," he said, tone even and final. He tapped a panel on his arm, which began to blink.

Mo nodded and pulled her hair up into a stumpy ponytail. "Fine, but I want to punch him at least once," she said, "Don't destroy him before then!" She heard Victor laughing as she raced toward the back room, picking her way over the broken concrete and ceiling tile.

_Cyborg._ Victor was _Cyborg._

What a fucking day. 


	3. Ch.2 - A Miniboss Appears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Harmony worked her minimum wage job at Level Up Games, bored out of her gourd, until her friend Victor stopped in and distracted her for a bit.   
> They were in the middle of a conversation when Harmony heard something weird and instinctively protected Victor. A missile flew in through the front of the store and obliterated the place...

Ⓣ

Mo cracked her neck and focused her power in her fists.

With a grunt, she punched through the remaining wall surrounding the back room. Drywall and dust clouded around her as she stepped through, peering into the dark. "Mr. Nomura?" she whispered, trying to clear the air with a wave of her hand. "It's me, Harmony," she said, squinting into the shadows, "I'm here to save you." The power had gone out while she was strategizing about how to get into the back, and it was _not_ helpful.

She heard thudding coming from up front, a dull _boom_ rattling the room. A groan echoed up from the ground, and Mo jumped to work, searching through the debris. Her foot connected with something squishy and definitely human. "Mr. Nomura?" Mo gasped, following her foot up until she located Mr. Nomura's face. It was sticky, slick with something hot. "It's Harmony, Mr. Nomura. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" She knew she was repeating herself, but she wanted him to know it was her and not a stranger.

When he didn't answer, she felt a coil of panic tighten in her gut. 

He couldn't die. Not today. Not Mr. Nomura.

The emergency lights flickered on overhead, bathing the room in an eerie red glow. Her fingers were stained black from the fluid on Mr. Nomura. _Blood, for sure_. She clenched her teeth and swallowed back the vomit that crawled up her throat, stooping to shove her arms under her boss.

Sirens closed in, echoing off of the towering buildings surrounding Level Up. A thrum of hope sent Mo's heart beating double time. She stood on shaking legs, hoisting Mr. Nomura over her shoulder. He grunted, bloody vomit expelling from his mouth and all down the back of Mo's shirt and pants. Sighing, she continued toward the hole she'd punched in the wall. No time to be upset.

Mo heaved one leg through, swerved to duck her head and Mr. Nomura, and slid the rest of herself back onto the sales floor. She tilted her head, hiding behind the rubble for a moment, to listen for the sirens... _probably still a few minutes out_. Carefully, Mo knelt and laid Mr. Nomura behind the back counter.

A wayward laser sliced over her head, residual heat making her hair stand on end. Mo peeked over the counter and saw Victor - no, _Cyborg_ \- fighting a guy... in a La-Z-Boy? Robotic arms extended out of the chair, holding the villain high in the air, punching at Cyborg and shooting lasers willy-nilly. Just as Mo was about to jump the counter and go help, her hand brushed her backpack, and she remembered her calc book, which still sat on the back counter. She swept it into her bag and zipped it, stowing it behind the boombox.

The deep rumble of a truck vibrated in her chest, and Mo glanced around the counter once again, just in time to see the T-Car pull up and the Titans file out. _Thank goodness._

"Just hand over Duck Hunt and no one gets hurt!" the villain shouted from his chair. That voice... Mo knew him. 

_Control Freak._ She'd seen him on the news. 

He launched a robotic appendage at Cyborg, knocking him back into the Xbox display, empty game cases clattering down around him. Mo grit her teeth and rolled out from behind the counter, shifting her shielding power to cover her face and fists. Hopefully it would be enough to disguise her.

"Hey nerd!" she shouted, waving an empty case in the air, "Is this what you're looking for?" The lie twisted her gut, but she needed to bluff their way out. 

She couldn't see any other solution.

But her bluff hooked Control Freak's attention. He swiveled, his robotic chair creeping over the debris toward Mo, eyes trained on the game case. "Hand it over, NPC," he roared, "I've been waiting for this game for _years_. You underestimate its value." He dropped Cyborg, and tiny drones expelled from his chair, hovering around the room. "If you don't hand the game over, all of your little Titans are toast."

One of the drones fired off a laser, searing through the wall near Cyborg's head. Mo clenched her fists and shoved the case into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "Eat shit, greaseball," she taunted, dodging a laser from a drone and racing out the hole in the front of the shop and past the Titans, all preoccupied with taking down the drones.

It was drizzling out, not yet fully raining, Mo's shoes squeaking as she hightailed it up the middle of the street. Billboards and neon reflected off of the damp concrete, glare blinding in Mo's sensitive eyes. She tried to shake it off, focusing her shield in her eyes and face as she pounded the pavement, bones reverberating with every thud of her feet on the concrete. Another laser arced past her, just to the left, hissing as it evaporated the rain on the sidewalk. Mo curved down the next street, keeping a careful ear on Control Freak's chair skittering down the road behind her.

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Control Freak roared. Mo heard something warming up, a whining increasing in pitch, the air shifting hot behind her, and scrambled down an alley. An explosion went off just where she'd been standing, melting a hole in the pavement and sending a shiver up her spine. She ducked behind a dumpster for a moment of respite, gasping for air and checking to make sure that the empty case was still in her pocket.

A robotic claw stretched up the alley, searching in the dark for her. It clawed through the trash, raking through the dumpster, bumping against the walls with no grace or tact. "I KNOW YOU'RE DOWN THERE!" Control Freak screamed, the arm thrashing around in an effort to get Mo to move.

Mo swallowed back against the tears clogging her throat and stowed the game case in her sweatshirt again. _She could do this._ Focusing her shield in her fists and on her face, Mo waited for the arm to swing in close to her hiding spot... and lurched. She gripped the metal limb in her reinforced hands, tearing the plating away with her fingernails and ripping the wiring out.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Control Freak screeched, yanking the stuttering arm back toward him and into the light of the street, not knowing that he was falling into Mo's trap. The streetlights revealed her feral grin, ink black eyes. With a warcry, Mo twisted her fists, wrenching the arm in two. Sparks jumped between the severed limb parts, even as Mo let the claw fall to the concrete. She scrambled up the remaining limb, fingers finding purchase on the plating, and made her way toward Control Freak. "Get _off!_ What are you doing?" he said, terror creeping into his voice.

Mo jumped, clawing at the armrest of the chair, and pulled herself up to perch next to Control Freak. "I think you've been had, good sir," she smirked, fishing the case from her pocket and chucking it at him. While he opened it, slack jawed, Mo punched his control panel, the chair lurching and jerking to a stop in the middle of the now-empty street.

"NO!" Control Freak spat, sneer wide and eyes wild as he gripped the armrests for stability, the chair slowly losing control. " _I NEED IT!_ " His hand shot out, gripping Mo by the throat.

Uncovered by her shield, her throat was vulnerable, weak. Strangle-able even by pasty, nerdy, wimpy villains. Mo choked, her feet sliding from the armrest and her fingers scratching helplessly at Control Freak's meaty palms. "Please," she gasped, tears gathering in her eyes.

Control Freak levered her out over the concrete, at least twenty feet up in the air. Heartbeat slamming in her ears, Mo barely heard him say, "This is for Duck Hunt." Her vision twisted, nausea coiling in her stomach, the world going dark.

A jolt shook Control Freak's vice on her throat just enough to gulp down a bit of air, just enough for him to lose his grip, just enough for Mo to kick off of the chair. She was falling. The neon signage of a pizza place, _their_ pizza place, was the last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her up.

_I'm sorry, Hero._


	4. Ch.3 - Quit or Continue?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Control Freak appeared at Level Up Games in search of Duck Hunt, one of the original releases for the Nintendo. Cyborg distracted him while Harmony saved her boss, Mr. Nomura, from the rubble of the destroyed store; the rest of the Titans showed up just as Harmony ran off, diverting Control Freak's attention with an empty game case, which only made him rage quit...

Ⓣ

Mo woke with a start.

She was dead. For sure. Everything was blurry and soft around the edges, warm and cozy and comfortable. Voices floated in from everywhere, whispery and just out of reach.

Limbs heavy as lead, pulsing like bruises, Mo sat up carefully, slowly, painfully. Her fingers felt across satiny fabric, tracing up her skin until she found her own face. A mask of some kind covered her eyes. Peeling it away, sunlight cut in, sharp and blinding. Mo blinked, adjusting her sight to the room.

Okay, _maybe_ she wasn't dead.

The room itself was multiple shades of gray - charcoal tile on the floor, matte silver on the walls, storm clouds stewing outside the window with sunshine trying to peek through - same as her bed linens and clothes. A fog-gray curtain was pulled around her bed, closing her off from the rest of the room.

Whispers tugged at her sensitive ears, reminding Mo that she wasn't alone. She closed her eyes and tried to eavesdrop a little harder.

"How much longer do you think she'll be staying with us, Cyborg?"

_Oh, right._ Victor. Cyborg. Control Freak. Duck Hunt.

_Yeah... that happened._

"Depends on what she has to say when she wakes up, _Robin_."

"Her heroism during battle was extraordinary! Shall we ask her to join us?"

"She could be a spy, Star. We can't just ask a total stranger to join us."

"Oh. I admit that I did not think of that."

"It's... it's alright."

Mo furrowed her brow. "You could just _ask_ me? I'm not a spy," she said, voice ragged, but loud enough for them to hear her. Scuffling echoed from the opposite side of the room, the curtain yanked back to reveal the Teen Titans standing at the foot of Mo's bed. She recognized them all from the news and online. Starfire, Robin, Raven, Beast Boy... and Cyborg. "Like I said, not a spy," she repeated, coughs punctuating her words, "Just a senior at Jump City High School, trying to not fail calculus like everyone else."

Cyborg chuckled at that, and Mo's gaze fell upon him. He was wearing gray sweats, a black PlayStation sweatshirt he bought at her store. She squinted at him, hopefully conveying her frustration and confusion, and turned to the rest of them. "So? What happened with Control Freak?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Apprehended by the police," Robin said, looking her up and down. "You sure you feel up to talking with us? The data said you wouldn't be up for another day or two..."

Mo waved her hand, dismissing Robin's words. "Data _schmata_. I'm awake now. What do you need to know?" She ran a hand through her hair and grimaced at the feel. "Actually, could I take a shower before you grill me? I don't know how long I've been out, but my hair needs some help. This is not a great first impression. Or, well, second impression, I suppose."

"You can use my bathroom," Raven said, gesturing with her head for Mo to follow.

Mo nodded, swinging her feet out of bed and promptly collapsing when she put weight on them. Cyborg rushed over, helping her up, and said, "You alright?"

A laugh fell out of Mo before she could stop it. "This is all very surreal, but sure," she muttered, shaking her head as she rested a bruised hand on Cyborg's arm. He helped her up, following Raven down a dark hall to her room. 

All of the hallways looked the same - dark, sleek, minimalistic. Maybe it was just the style the group had settled on, but Harmony thought it was kind of... _bleak._

"Thanks," she whispered, patting Cyborg's arm as they got to their destination.

"No prob," he said, avoiding eye contact.

Mo gave him a weak smile and followed Raven inside, the door sliding shut behind her. "Thanks for this, Raven," she said, trying not to look around the room or pry.

Raven said nothing, just glided across the room to another door. "Here," she pointed at the door, "There are extra towels in the cabinet. Use whatever you want. I'll put some clean clothes out for you."

"At the risk of repeating myself, thank you again," Mo said, "And sorry for-"

"Don't apologize," Raven cut her off, shaking her head, "It's no big deal." They caught each other's eyes for a second before Raven sighed and added, "Go shower. You smell."

"Sure do," Mo laughed and pressed into the bathroom. She immediately fiddled with the shower knobs, turning the heat up as high as it would go. As steam began to fill the room, Mo grabbed a black towel from the cabinet, just like Raven had said, and set it within arm's reach of the shower. Stripping away the foreign, gray hospital gown, Mo felt herself relaxing, settling into the feelings pent up inside her chest.

Tears spilled over her cheeks, falling to the dark tile beneath her feet. Mo crumpled all of the garments into a ball, and walked over to the shower, ready for the final step. She bent down, fingers trembling, and fumbled across the plastic at her shin, feeling for the latch. With a click, it came undone, and the pain shot up her limb, reverberating in her hip. Mo stifled her gasp of pain by biting her lip, blood pooling in her mouth. She left her prosthetic leaned up against the shower and hoisted herself in.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, letting the lava-hot water scald away her tears and pain and feelings... But it was at least long enough for her skin to redden, for her to shampoo, condition, wash her face and her body, and for her to replay the entire events of the Control Freak incident twice in her mind. When she was good and ready, she turned the knobs, the water stuttering to a stop.

Mo hopped out of the shower and toweled off before reattaching her prosthetic, the brief shock of pain familiar and unwavering. She stood, wrapped the towel around her body, and hobbled out into Raven's room, hair dripping down her shoulders. A gauzy black dress was laid out on Raven's bed, floor length with fluttery eyelet sleeves. Mo slipped into the dress, surprised it fit so well despite it pooling on the floor a bit. She shook her hair out through her fingers and gathered her clothes and towel up in her arms.

Cyborg waited for her in the hall. "Well don't you look nice," he said, nodding at her outfit.

"Yeah, yeah," Mo grinned, "Now where's the rest of your team? I heard they want to interrogate me or something." She pulled her bundle in close and followed Cyborg down the hall.

He turned to eye her and said, "They're curious is all. New meat. You took down Control Freak basically by yourself. Plus they're surprised that you have powers and they didn't know."

"You didn't know either," Mo fired back. She listened to the pad-thump, pad-thump of her bare footsteps on the dark floor before asking the question lingering on her mind. "So, what do I call you now? Still want me to call you Victor?"

Shrugging, he slowed just before a door and turned to face Mo. "The others call me Cyborg or Cy," he explained, eyes drifting up to lock on hers, "But I like when you call me Victor. It's nice... Normal."

A shiver ran down Mo's spine at the sudden dip in his tone - low and gravelly during his confession - and she grinned up at him. "Alright then. _Victor_ ," she said, "Let's go talk to your friends." She bumped him with her elbow.

He gave a short nod and pressed his hand to a panel beside the door. The door split down the middle, sliding open with a suction sound that made Harmony's skin crawl. Cyborg waved a sweeping hand to let Harmony enter first, following behind her as she entered the conference room.

The other Titans sat at sporadic intervals around the table. An entire wall of the room was computer-screened, half-covered in tabloids with bylines regarding the Control Freak arrest, the other half pertaining to Harmony.

Her eyes immediately went to her mugshot and cringed. Mascara rivulets ran down her cheeks, and a black eye shone darkly even in the harsh light of the police station. 

Of course the Titans found that. _Excellent._

"So. Harmony Holden," Robin said, tenting his fingers at the head of the conference table, "Tell us why we should trust you." He rested his elbows on the table and cocked his head, fixing his gaze upon her.

Cyborg tapped Harmony's shoulder, gesturing for her to sit, and she shook her head with an appreciative smile. "First of all, I appreciate that you healed me. Thank you for taking me in and allowing me to use your facilities," she said, watching as Victor went and took a seat beside Robin, _literally his right hand man_ , and made that mental note. "I am sorry if I've inconvenienced you in any way, as that was not my intention."

Harmony took a deep, centering breath, and dove straight into her bullshit, sticking to the basics. "I'm an orphan. I work three part time jobs on top of going to school to pay for my own stuff, because my foster mom just uses me for the government paychecks," Harmony continued, "And I'm currently in the process of emancipating myself. I'm looking for my little sister, who was separated from me when my parents died. And that night-" Harmony pointed at the screen, at her mugshot- "Was the worst night of my life. The night my parents got murdered. The night I was told I would never see my sister again. So before you judge me too harshly... maybe don't."

Well, she didn't quite stick the landing, but the rest was alright.

No one said anything for a while. Harmony's legs shook as she stood at the opposite end of the table from Robin, not daring to unlock her gaze from his or back down. The room tilted dangerously once, but she managed to crack her neck and regain a little bit of clarity.

Starfire was the first to break the silence. "Forgive me, but I do not know what this 'foster mom' is... some kind of special mother figure?" she asked softly, leaning forward over the table. "Why is the government giving her money? Does she work for them?"

"Nah, Star. A foster mom is like a temporary mom," Beast Boy finally spoke, avoiding Harmony's eyes and talking with his hands, "They take care of you when your birth mom can't or won't, and give the kid back later."

Raven cut in and added, "And the government pays them for taking care of children that aren't their own. The money is _supposed_ to cover the child's clothes, food... things they need."

Victor's eyes never once left Harmony, watching her carefully hide her emotions. But he knew some of her tells from stopping at the store - that twitch of her lips, the furrow in her brow, the appearance of her dimple, the flaring of her nostrils. She thought she was sneaky, so stone-faced, but in reality, her feelings were plain as day.

"So your temporary mother does not use her money appropriately?" Starfire asked, voice watery with tears, "She does not sound like a good mother at all, if you ask me."

"Believe me, she's not," Harmony chuckled wryly, shifting her weight to keep herself alert and focused. She twisted the conversation back to the task at hand with ease. "But trust me when I say I wasn't looking for fame or money or leverage when I destroyed Control Freak and his stupid chair. All I saw was my workplace destroyed, my boss injured, my friend in trouble." She looked at Victor, and found him already watching her, a thrum of embarrassment shimmering through her veins and forcing her cheeks to their hottest setting. "I won't tell anyone what I saw here, or what happened during the battle."

Robin's chair squeaked as he leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "What are your powers?"

Harmony frowned, unsure why he was asking. "I was born with a shielding power, and acquired heightened senses later in life. Why does it matter?"

"Prove it."

The two words set Harmony's teeth on edge, knots of fury twisting through her stomach. She summoned up her shield first, covering her face to mimic Robin's mask. Then, she turned to each of the Titans in turn, using her other power. "Starfire had lasagna for breakfast; Victor's cologne is sandalwood, juniper, and mint; Robin has an eyelash on his cheek that isn't his; Raven smells of old books, parchment, and ink; and Beast Boy's heart beats at twice the normal human's pace."

Her smug victory was short-lived, as the floor swam beneath her feet.

Cyborg was on his feet and at her side in an instant, catching Harmony before she even had the chance to fall. But to her defense, she'd caught herself on the table, earning herself a few more bruises to add to her collection. Harmony's shield dissipated, sinking back into her skin as she caught her breath. "S-sorry. I'm fine," she gasped, meeting Victor's eyes and giving him a weak nod, "I think I just need to eat."

Helping her into a chair, Victor nodded at Starfire, who flew from the room without a word, and the other Titans exchanged silent looks. Harmony slumped over, burying her face in her hands. _This is why her life was a mess... she couldn't keep her sass in check._ Maybe she didn't deserve to get Hero back after all. Maybe she wasn't worthy.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I should go home. I'm a nuisance-"

"Hey." Victor's soft tone jerked Harmony from her shame-spiral, and she looked up at him. He guided her hand away from her face, and held in between both of his, the plating warmer than she expected. "You're fine. You can apologize all you want, but you don't need to. We're more than capable of taking in another orphan."

_...Another?_

Harmony nodded slowly, chewing her lip as she processed his words. "Fine. But the second I'm a burden, feel free to kick me out. Seriously. You don't even need a good reason, I'll just go-"

"Dude, we get it," Beast Boy cut her off, laughing.

Raven sighed and crossed her arms. "Looks like we'll need to clean the spare bedroom."

"Not it!" Beast Boy shouted, tapping his finger to his nose.

Cyborg followed suit, as did Raven, their fingers flying to their noses. Harmony caught on at the last second, Victor guiding her finger up to touch her nose too. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he just winked back. Heat flooded Harmony's cheeks in response.

Robin grumbled and stood, catching Starfire's elbow as she floated back into the room with a bowl of cereal for Harmony. "Where are we going?" she laughed, letting herself get dragged along by Robin. "Bye friends!"

At the last second, Starfire handed off the cereal to Cyborg, who set the bowl in front of Harmony. The door slid shut behind Robin and Starfire, leaving Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, and Harmony in the conference room. Harmony eyed the cereal and her stomach growled painfully.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had cereal. 

Carefully, she lifted the spoon to her mouth and groaned at the sugary flavor.

...Maybe staying with the Teen Titans wouldn't be so bad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, LEGENDS is caught up to Wattpad.   
> Whenever I update over there, I'll update here too. c:


	5. Ch.4 - Hit Restart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Harmony Holden woke up in the Titans Tower and earned herself a meeting with the Teen Titans. Robin made her prove her powers (a shielding power she was born with, and heightened senses she acquired later in life) in front of the group...   
> And then begrudgingly went to tidy the spare guest room with Starfire.

Ⓣ

Harmony returned to Jump City High School the very next day.

Even though it was against _all_ of the Titans’ recommendations, Harmony was too afraid of falling behind on schoolwork or missing something vital. She _needed_ to graduate from high school; her plans for the future hinged on her diploma arriving on time and without error.

But what she hadn’t anticipated was a personal escort...

Courtesy of Bruce Wayne.

So she sat in the back of a sleek, black limo, picking at the fraying holes in the black jeans Raven loaned her, sucking her teeth and waiting for Mr. Wayne to break the tension. He hadn’t uttered a single word since picking her up in the secret underwater tunnel connecting Titan Tower to Jump City that morning, his eyes glued to his smartphone, fingers flying across the screen and scowl deepening with each passing minute. The tension rose in parallel with his frown, more and more uncomfortable as they approached Harmony’s school.

Beat up backpack wedged between her feet (salvaged from Level Up’s rubble by Beast Boy), Harmony counted her blessings to soothe her anxiety, a classic trick her very first (and most favorite) foster mom had taught her. But as she was about to start (her pink Vans surviving the Control Freak battle was the first thing on her list), Mr. Wayne cleared his throat and slid his sleek phone into his breast pocket, crumpling his yellow, paisley pocket square. He uncrossed and recrossed his legs, angling himself toward Harmony, settling his indifferent gaze upon her. “Harmony Hestia Holden,” he stated. “A handful of a name.”

“Indeed it is, Mr. Wayne,” she answered, trying her best to not sound like she was internally shitting her pants.

“I will be sponsoring you for the duration of your senior year,” he said coolly.

Harmony opened her mouth to refuse, to question his sanity, to ask if he was an alien that had taken over the real Bruce Wayne’s body, but he cut her off with a raised eyebrow. “Contingent upon your grades and performance in the Titans, that is,” he added, the corner of his mouth twitching up for the briefest second.

Brain running on half of a cup of coffee and a single piece of dry vegan toast (again, courtesy of Beast Boy), it took Harmony a second to understand what he was saying. “Uh, _okay,_ ” she nodded, “I can keep my grades up. But... _the Titans_ , sir? What do you mean?”

“Once you pass a provisional period, approved by Robin, you will join the Titans in the field,” he said, glancing out his window and threading his fingers together, resting them in his lap. His jaw clenched and unclenched, the muscles visibly working even in the low morning light. “We think you will be a valuable asset to the team, considering your powers and background.” Mr. Wayne turned back to her, something different about his demeanor as he spoke. “Starting next Friday, you will receive weekly allowance deposits into your checking account, accessible via debit card, which Robin will give you. Once you pass your provisional period, allowance will increase. We will have weekly mentor meetings to track your personal and professional goals.”

The car slowed, pulling up in front of Jump City High School. Students filtered in through the front doors, slowing to stare at the outlandish vehicle, pointing and whispering at the dark limo that slid into the drop-off lane.

“I… I’m not sure that I understand, Mr. Wayne,” Harmony confessed, gripping her backpack strap in her bruised palm. “Why are you doing all of this for me? I’m nobody special.” She avoided looking out the window, ignored Mr. Wayne’s drilling stare, and pushed down the feeling that this was all a prank.

Maybe she’d tipped the karmic scales somehow...

The driver parked and swung out of his seat, crossing to open Mr. Wayne’s door. Bruce Wayne paused and leveled one more unnerving look at Harmony, and said, “I’m adopting you, Miss Holden... I thought that would’ve been clear by now.”

Ⓣ

The rest of the morning passed in a blur of paperwork and meetings.

Apparently, Mr. Wayne had already collected Harmony’s things from her foster mom’s place and had everything sent to the Tower, had her foster contract terminated, and fast-tracked the adoption paperwork.

Everything was nearly completed and it wasn’t even noon.

Twenty four hours ago, Harmony sat in calculus and doodled in the margins of her textbook, hoping that her shift at Level Up would fly by and that her foster mom wouldn’t give her any lip when she got home after work.

Little did she know that her life would flip upside down in such little time.

At the moment, Harmony did what she was told, went where she was instructed, sat in the meetings she was guided to… Because none of it seemed real. _Not yet._

_Why would Gotham’s richest man be adopting her, a nobody with weird powers and the shittiest backstory in the history of teenage girls?_ If anything, she should be considered a liability, a handicap… _the opposite_ of an asset to Mr. Wayne _or_ to the Titans.

...Something wasn’t adding up.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t giving herself enough credit. Sure, Harmony could sass with the best of ‘em, draw pretty well, and talk her way out of any awkward situation, but she wasn’t sure that those things alone made her Teen Titans material.

It was only when Alfred - Mr. Wayne’s butler - pressed a warm, paper-wrapped sandwich into her hands an unknown amount of hours later that Harmony shook out of her trance, managing to thank him for his kindness. Alfred smiled at her, set a disposable coffee cup on the table beside her, and crossed the empty conference room, handing a similar sandwich to Mr. Wayne as they whispered to each other. Mr. Wayne tapped away on his phone, listening and nodding as he unwrapped his food one-handed, glancing up at Harmony as he took the first bite of his food.

She jumped, frantically looking away and busying herself with her lunch as well. Chewing and thinking simultaneously, Harmony tried to process the fairy tale that had been her morning. Not only was it the first time had she ever missed class since starting at Jump High, but now she was getting adopted?

All she could picture was her friends roaming the halls just beyond their room... her friends who had no idea that Harmony was mentally imploding, freaking the fuck out at the sheer fucked-up-ness of her day. Without a phone (her foster mom never felt the need for her to have one), Mo couldn’t tell anyone about what was happening…

“Harmony, we’re done here.”

Bruce Wayne materialized in front of Harmony at some point, looming and mysterious in his black suit and neutral sneer. “Did you hear me?” he pressed, eyebrow raising as he glanced at his smart-watch, “Alfred and I are finished with the school’s paperwork. Do you want to finish out the day? Or should we drop you off at the tower?”

Before she could even respond, Alfred held up a hand in pause. “Sir, I believe Robin informed us this morning that Harmony was injured, yes?”

“Right, right,” Mr. Wayne grumbled, massaging his temples as he exhaled through clenched teeth. He took a moment to check his phone - _always checking some device or another,_ Harmony noticed - and he said, “We’re taking you back to the tower. Grab your things. You can finish your sandwich in the limo.”

Harmony chuckled as she stood, sandwich in one hand and backpack in the other.

“Something funny, kid?” Mr. Wayne grunted, holding the door for her as Harmony exited into the hall.

The smell of tater tots and rectangle pizza wafted through the empty linoleum and fluorescent hallways. Harmony had been smelling it for hours, the scent seeping in under the crack of the conference room door. “Never thought I’d ride in a limo, nevertheless twice in one day, Mr. Wayne,” Harmony shrugged.

The three of them made an odd group as they exited the building, with Alfred strolling off toward the parking lot to retrieve said limo. Bruce Wayne - the brooding, bulky billionaire - and Harmony Holden - the punky, pink-haired enigma - stood side by side on the front sidewalk, silent for a moment until Mr. Wayne chuckled lowly. “Get used to it, Holden… The limo’s the only vehicle I have in Jump City.”

“I’ll be a social pariah by the end of the week,” she retorted under her breath.

Surprisingly, Mr. Wayne _smiled_ as the limo pulled up, popping the door open for Harmony and ushering her in first.

“Trust me, you’ll miss the limo in a week, Holden.”

“What’s happening in a week, _Wayne?_ ”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

...Playful banter? _Check._

Love and affection? _Definitely not._

But necessities and a roof over her head and some stability?

_Yeah. For the first time in a long time... yeah._

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist for this story is available on my spotify, titled LEGENDS, username klaxdal


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